Loki, McGee, and Gibbs, with Sharon Carter, left the Triskelion as the helicarriers continued to crash down. One fell into the river, the other felt half in, half out of the river, and the third was about to slam into SHIELD headquarters. Loki glanced over and saw Hailstohm, Bishop, DiNozzo, Rogers, Hill, and Wilson all heading toward them, weary but determined.

Above them, a helicopter suddenly lifted into the air, and Romanoff's voice crackled in over the earpieces. "Pierce and Carpenter are in custody. Fury, Torres, and I are evacuating the area."

"Copy that," Gibbs replied.

"Wait, Carpenter?" Loki questioned, touching his earpiece. "Wasn't Carpenter –"

"On our side," Gibbs finished grimly. "He betrayed us."

Loki furrowed his brow. "You sound like you saw this coming."

Gibbs just sighed.

"What's left?" McGee asked. "We've ended Insight, toppled HYDRA and/or SHIELD, and took out the helicarriers."

"The enhanced agents," Loki reminded him. "Halo, Flare, Jacklin. And the Winter Soldier." He glanced up, his gaze focusing on two figures heading toward them. One was brunette, the other blonde.

His blonde.

Loki took off, running toward Bishop and Hill, his gaze only for one. He caught her in his arms and held her close, feeling her arms wrap around him.

"We did it," she breathed into his chest. "We did it."

"Almost," Loki replied, drawing back. "We just have to tie up the loose ends."

Hailstohm landed on the ground nearby with a thud, leaving deep boot prints. She released DiNozzo from her grasp, who staggered and fell, retching onto the grass. Wilson flew in and landed beside her, letting Rogers go.

"Kate," Rogers gasped, straightening and whirling to face the approaching Gibbs. "Kate. She went down with the helicarrier. With Buck – with Barnes."

"Where?" Gibbs demanded, tensing.

Rogers turned and gazed down at the Potomac. "The river."

"Gibbs, it's a bad idea," Hill warned. "The debris from the wreck...if she's trapped inside, there's no way she's getting out."

"Look, I'll go look for her," Wilson said, lifting his hands in appeasement as he saw the stubborn look on Gibbs' face. "I'll do a flyover."

"And I," Hailstohm said, turning. Wilson kicked off into the air and Hailstohm slipped into a run, the two heading down toward the river.

****

"It's done," Mars spat, wrinkling her nose in disgust. She, Connor, and Jacklin had rendezvoused a short distance from the Triskelion, surveying the damage. The smoke and destruction was visible from here. SHIELD had fallen, and with it HYDRA's strongest grip on American politics.

"Agreed," Connor muttered.

"There's still a battle," Jacklin argued. "We can get rid of at least a couple more agents, thin the ranks of the Avengers a bit. Make them hurt. We can further cripple NCIS."

Mars shook her head. "Give it up, Jacklin. No use dying for the Triskelion when it's already fallen. We can do more for the cause if we head to the Sokovian outpost." Connor nodded assent.

Jacklin was silent for a moment, as if contemplating, then shook his head. "I'm staying."

"To die like a hero?" Connor derided. "What's the good in that? No, we need to regroup, plan out our next steps to keep HYDRA afloat. You know the drill. We'll do more good retreating now than holding our ground."

"I'm staying to fight," Jacklin insisted. "You two don't have the senses I do. There's something coming, something more powerful than HYDRA. I can...I can sense it, feel it. It's dark, it's strong. And it's approaching us now." He turned slightly, gazing up expectantly. "It speaks to the power within me, the dark energy. It is the same."

Mars and Connor exchanged a glance. "All right then, but we're going," Mars said, and she and Connor turned. Silently, they sprinted off. Jacklin watched them go, then pivoted to face the falling Triskelion, stepping forward toward the pull of darkness.

****

Loki sensed the pulse of the portal before it opened.

He pushed Bishop behind him, summoning the Aether's power as he lifted his scepter. The air split before them, the grey dust of the world on the other side of the pathway blowing through the portal. Stepping through the portal was Malekith, with the Dark Elf currently in possession of the Power Stone.

Gibbs, DiNozzo, McGee, Bishop, and Hill lifted their rifles, aiming them at the Dark Elves. Carter similarly aimed her pistol. Rogers stepped into a defensive position, lifting his shield arm.

The Elf with the Power Stone shot an amethyst blast at Loki as Malekith snarled, declaring something in their dark tongue as he seemed to encourage the other Elf – Arvolt, it seemed his name was – on. Loki blocked the blast with his scepter and used the weapon to direct a finely honed stream of crimson energy. The agents opened fire, but a stamp of Arvolt's foot sent a powerful shudder, purple shock waves reverberating through the air and earth, propelling them all backwards.

Loki managed to hold his ground, planting the scepter in the ground and willing himself to stay put. This ends now, he thought with a snarl, summoning the complete power of the Reality Stone within him. He would kill Arvolt, his mother's murderer, and send Malekith back to the darkness he so craved.

But before Loki could unleash his full fury on them, Thor came barreling through the still open portal.

He swung at Arvolt, who met Mjolnir's head with his arm and deflected the blow into the ground. Thor stumbled, thrown off balance, and Arvolt smirked, his fingers glowing purple.

It would only take a second to kill the Asgardian prince.

"No!" Loki screamed, redirecting the scarlet magic into a shield and hurling it into the sliver of space between Thor and Arvolt's building power. The red tendrils deflected the amethyst blast back at Arvolt, sending him flying backwards. Loki sighed in relief but then felt his insides stiffen.

Malekith had his hands outstretched, murmuring words in the Dark Elf language, and the Aether was entranced.

Loki couldn't draw the crimson power back to himself. It was stuck in the air, still shielding Thor, the tendrils quivering as they were caught between their current host and the Dark Elf who summoned them. Loki had provided them with a host, a somewhat-symbiotic relationship, but Malekith promised to remake reality.

Somehow, Loki could understand the meaning behind his words, perhaps because he was so closely connected with the Aether the Elf spoke to. Malekith was commanding the Aether to detach itself from Loki's life force, to abandon him in favor of taking the Dark Elf as its host. As he spoke, Loki could see the shimmer of the City of the Darkness, beginning to take shape.

No, Loki ordered the Infinity Stone. Do not take him as a host.

The Aether struggled, trapped between the two wills. Meanwhile, the portal behind Loki morphed, the opening blurring and the dusty greyness Malekith had come from seeming to blend with the urbanity of DC. He heard gasps from behind him, and Gibbs' command to "Hold your ground!"

"It's the Convergence!" he heard, and it took him a moment to place the voice. It was Jane, Jane Foster, and he heard Thor's swift intake of breath.

The Convergence. The moment when the Nine Realms are most connected. And this is the moment Malekith decides to take the Aether from me. If he succeeds...it will open the door wide to his City in the Darkness. It will actually take on its form.

Loki gritted his teeth. He could not, would not release the Aether. He would not allow Malekith to bring back primordial darkness and allow Dormammu to incorporate Midgard into the Dark Dimension. No. He refused.

But he felt it in his gut that he couldn't do it alone.

I only have half the Aether. Kate Todd has the other half. I cannot beat the Dark Elves alone. I can only beat them with her...in sync with her.

KATE!

He felt his silent scream echo across the distance between him and her, felt the vibrations shudder through the Aether's tendrils. Malekith increased the speed of his chant while Arvolt engaged in combat with the others. Thor was back on his feet and fighting the other Dark Elf, and in the dusty grey world they had come from Loki could see Tekahionwake, Mordo, Quill, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot, all fighting the rest of the Dark Elves. It clicked then, that the other world was Svartalfheim, the Dark World.

Oh, great.

KATE!

Then Loki heard an answering call. Coming. Just hold on.

Hold on, hold on, echoed across the crimson tendrils as Loki felt a surge. He could feel Kate coming, knew she knew exactly what was going on, and what was at stake. And she would come. And together, they would have to defeat Malekith.

It had to be done together, according to Tidal, or not at all.

Then he felt the wave of Kate's power and Malekith's chant faltered.

Kate raced over the hill, looking battered and drenched. But her stride was steady and smooth, and Hailstohm raced along beside her, Wilson soaring overhead. Kate was glowing with a red aura and Loki felt her power crash into his, seeking to click into place instead of overwhelm.

Together, he heard her whisper in his head.

Together, he returned, and then she was beside him.

Her fingers wrapped around his wrist and it was like electricity shot through the Asgardian. The Aether recoiled from Malekith, drawing back toward Loki and Kate. It would only continue to be divided if it joined the Dark Elf, whereas it could be joined to its other half if it returned to its current host.

Loki could feel the power humming beneath his skin, so potent it was almost burning him. Kate's fingers wrapped tightly around his wrist, and he could feel the same power within him coursing through her. Their heartbeats, their breaths, were all in sync.

The crimson power flooded back into Loki, Malekith swearing as his command was broken. Loki felt adrenaline course through his veins.

Now, he thought.

Now, Kate replied, and the two of them linked their minds.

Pooling the two sides of the Aether together, Loki and Kate funneled the power together into a concentrated blast and unleashed it in a fury at Malekith.

Loki glared at the Dark Elf, channeling all of his anger into the Aether. Anything is possible anything is possible anything is possible anything is possible. Killing Malekith was possible. It would be done. It had to be done.

He felt Kate thinking the same thing, and the crimson glowed brighter. Malekith let out a scream, the Aether forming a blade and slashing through him. Within a few moments, the screaming stopped.

Malekith was dead.

Loki panted, the scarlet power coiling back into him and Kate, hissing as it separated. He felt a hand on his shoulder and started, turning to find Gibbs standing there, his eyes concerned. "You good, Laufeyson?"

Loki nodded. "Yes. I think."

Gibbs looked to Kate, who also nodded. "We did it. Malekith down."

"Good. Now let's get the rest." Gibbs lifted his rifle and headed into Svartalfheim, firing at one of the Dark Elves.

Loki turned, his attention shifting to Arvolt, currently holding off Tekahionwake, Thor, and Hailstohm. Then he heard Kate suck in a breath, a moment after feeling it. "Jacklin's here."

"You take him, I got Arvolt," Loki told her. "We end this. Now."

Kate nodded and took off running toward Jacklin.

Loki turned and sprinted toward Arvolt, gathering his power together and channeling it into his scepter. He began firing rapid blasts at the Dark Elf, catching him unawares. Arvolt jerked around, his eyes widening involuntarily as he noticed he had a fourth, powerful attacker.

With Thor and Mjolnir, Loki and the Aether, Tekahionwake and her fiery arrows, and Hailstohm and her twin ice swords, Arvolt didn't stand a chance. Even the Power Stone couldn't beat their combined might.

Finally, Loki got in close enough to the Elf and seized the amethyst stone embedded in his chest. The power scorched his fingers and Loki felt a hiss of pain escape through his gritted teeth, but he closed his fingers around it and utilized the power of the Reality Stone to yank the Power Stone away.

Arvolt staggered back. With Thor, Tekahionwake, and Hailstohm still launching attacks, the Dark Elf succumbed in no time. Mjolnir dealt the final blow, crushing his skull inward.

****

Kate and Jacklin fought viciously, her enhanced reflexes improved by the sheer ability of the Reality Stone currently feeding off of her like a parasite. Jacklin's phasing was not enough to beat her, not this time. His two clones had already been killed – one by DiNozzo and Bishop, the other by Gibbs. McGee, Hill, Rogers, Wilson, and Carter were all fighting the Dark Elves which were spilling out of their dreary world, the ranks of which were dwindling quickly.

Then she saw a fiery shield fly past her, striking Jacklin in the arm. Within a moment, Mordo had appeared beside her, joining in the fight. Jacklin was forced to give ground. He was exhausted and drained, and even his dark energy couldn't sustain him.

Kate relished driving home the final blow, effortlessly snapping his neck using the crimson tendrils in a replication of the neck snap Gibbs had taught her all those years ago.

She panted, stepping away from the body. Turning, she saw that Arvolt was similarly dead, as were most of the other Dark Elves, and Loki was standing near where the concrete faded into the flaky grey ash of the world now connected to theirs, the amethyst glow of the Power Stone emanating from the head of his scepter. Enraptured, he was staring at it, his eyes giving off a faint reddish glow as he held his fingers near it, their tips blackened and cracked.

Parasitic. The word floated through Kate's mind. The Aether is a parasite.

We need to get it out of us.

But first, she could feel the shift of cosmic energy inside her, and knew that whatever was allowing the two worlds to blend was about to change. "Everyone, to the DC side!" she yelled. "Before the portal closes."

Everyone on the grey dust side of the boundary crossed to the DC side, even Loki moving away as Jane Foster stepped up to the boundary with an awed expression. Selvig was close behind her, trying to call for Jane to move back. Darcy and Ian, the interns, were standing a good distance back, worried expressions on their faces.

"This is so amazing," Jane murmured. "The Convergence...it's everything I hoped for."

Loki glanced over at her, as if in a daze. He was currently in possession of two Infinity Stones, an amount of power that was too insane for Kate to comprehend. The half power of the Reality Stone within her was already terrifying and limitless – she couldn't imagine having that and the abilities of a complete Infinity Stone, one which seemed to be composed of pure power.

"Jane," he said, and Kate could see the haziness beginning to flee from his eyes. "Jane, you need to move."

Kate saw Jane look over at Loki...and then she heard the gasp, saw Jane's body stiffen. She collapsed, a ragged hole in her chest.

"Good shot," she heard, and looked up to see a tall, blue figure marching toward them, flanked by a group of warriors. "Now, hand over the Power Stone, and no one else on this world will have to die."

/**/

I really hope that wasn't too chaotic. Bringing all the threads together into these final battle scenes was...something else.

Any guesses on who the blue figure is?

Let me know what you thought of this chapter! Leave a comment, and please consider voting! We're so close to the end!

Skylar Wittenborn